


a lesson in kindness

by warriorprincessclarke



Series: Beau/Fjord [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Campaign 2, F/M, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 03:41:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14323800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warriorprincessclarke/pseuds/warriorprincessclarke
Summary: Beau really just needs to work on her delivery





	a lesson in kindness

“That scar on your cheek? That’s super fucked.” Beau said to the crownsguard currently stopping them from exiting the walls of Zadesh. She had been trying to convince, or better yet harass, him into to let the party leave for the better part of ten minutes.

 

“Alright, that’s it.” The guard made a move towards Beau, attempting to detain her. But at the last second, Fjord stepped in.

 

“I am so sorry about this,” he said, turning on the charm, “see my friend here, she has had a pretty rough day today, she’s not usually like this, I’m sure you can understand.”

 

“None of us have had a particularly good day.” The guard said.

 

“Exactly, so I’m sure you can understand her little,” Fjord glared at Beau, who sneered right back without missing a beat, “outburst.”

 

The guard walked away, not detaining Beau, but not accepting the apology either.

 

Fjord took the opportunity and grabbed Beau by the elbow, not unlike the crownsguard would have, and pulled her away from the crowd and into a near empty tavern.

 

“Now what exactly were you thinking?”

 

“What?” Beau asked, harsh but surprisingly genuine.

 

“You cannot go around insulting crownsguard, we want to get  _ out,  _ not arrested.”

 

“I wasn’t insulting him! His scar was badass!” Beau thumped Fjord in the chest with the back of her hand.

 

Fjord pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. He took a moment to gather his thoughts then gently guided a resistant Beau to a seat at the far end of the bar. 

 

“Beau, you need to work on being, how do I put this, kind to others.”

 

“I was complimenting him on his scar!”

 

“Not from his perspective you weren’t.”

 

“Well fuck him, then!” Beau threw her hands up in the air.

 

“Look, look, look, I think you just need to work on your delivery a little.”

 

“My delivery?” Beau said accusingly.

 

“Here, say something nice to me.” Fjord said.

 

Beau crossed her arms and braced her feet against the bar so she could lean back in her stool. She didn’t answer for a long time. Fjord thought that she was going to ignore his request entirely, but he knew that look in her eye. The squint paired with the upper lip bite meant she was thinking. It was a little more thinking than Fjord’s self esteem would have liked, but he let her take her time.

 

After a few whole minutes, yes minutes, Beau finally said, “the whole no tusk thing you’ve got going on, it’s good.”

 

“Beau,” Fjord sputtered a few times, trying to say one of the many things going through his mind, “the intention was there, I see that, I do, but again the delivery.”

 

“You’ve got a nice face, what was wrong with that?”

 

“That would have been a great start! Just say  _ that  _ next time. You see, it’s not exactly socially acceptable to comment on a half orc’s lack of tusks.” He said, gesturing to his mouth.“If I didn’t already like you... well let’s just say it’s a good thing there aren’t a lot of witnesses in this bar.”

 

“This is bullshit.” Beau muttered, slamming her stool back into its upright position. She tried to storm off but Fjord caught her by the elbow, gentler this time. She allowed him to pull her back, but she didn’t sit down. Instead she rested one elbow on his shoulder and waited expectantly for whatever he was about to say.

 

“It’s not bullshit. Watch.” Fjord whispered. He tapped on the bar counter and successfully got the attention of the pretty young half-elf barmaid.

 

“What can I do for you?” She said, wiping her hands on an already dirtied white apron. Her smile was small but genuine and her nose dotted with freckles.

 

“My, I was going to ask for your finest ale, but I don’t think I want it anymore.” Fjord said, shifting his body weight towards the girl.

 

“Why not?” She said, clearly catching on.

 

“Because then you’d have to turn around and I wouldn’t get to see your lovely face.”

 

“I don’t know, I’ve heard the view from the back is pretty good too.” She said with a wink as she turned around to fetch the ale.

 

Fjord looked over to Beau who was unmoving, eyes wide and mouth confusedly agape. He would have laughed had the barmaid not returned with his drink so quickly.

 

“On the house.” She slid the drink over to Fjord without spilling a drop.

 

“Thank you, kindly.” Fjord nodded his head at her as he took a swig.

 

Once the girl had made her way down to the end of the bar, Beau yelled, “What the fuck was that?!”

 

“It’s called being nice, and I know you’ve heard of it because I just explained it to you.”

 

Beau leaned farther into Fjord’s personal bubble and grabbed the ale out of his hand, though he willingly let her do it, and downed the rest of the drink.

 

“I can  _ be  _ nice.”

 

“Prove it then. Get her to give you a free drink.” 

 

“That’s not fair! I can’t follow you, people fuckin’ love you.” Fjord could hear the resignation in her voice as he realized she was right.

 

“Yeah, including you.” Beau rolled her eyes at that, but didn’t argue. “It’ll be fine, go on, I’ll be right here watching.”

 

“More like you’ll be right here laughing.” Beau slammed the empty glass on the counter and walked past Fjord. “I’m taking a leak, gotta be in peak physical condition for this.” She callously flipped him the bird as she made her way to the outhouse in the back.

 

As soon as she was out the door, Fjord sprung up from his seat and ran over to the barmaid. 

 

“Sorry if this is a bit of an odd request, but I will give you five silver if you pretend that you’re giving my friend a free drink when she comes back.” He held out the money as proof.

 

She eyed him up and down, crossing her arms and leaning over the bar suggestively, “For you? I would have done it for free.” She said, swiping the coin out of his hands before he could realize what she’d said.

 

Fjord smiled to himself, for she had already turned around. He returned to his seat and pretended that he’d been there the whole time.

 

Beau slammed the rear door open and sauntered her way to the bar. She parked herself right in front of the barmaid, not even acknowledging Fjord. To others, it would look like she was feeling the effects of that glass of ale, but Fjord knew her tolerance was much higher than that. She was overcompensating.

 

“Hey!” She yelled a bit too aggressively. The barmaid made exasperated eye contact with Fjord before acknowledging Beau. “Are you a wizard?”

 

Fjord put his head down on the counter in embarrassment. He slammed it down with a loud enough sound that both Beau and the barmaid looked over at him. He waved off the barmaid’s curious look and Beau’s furious look.

 

He could tell the barmaid was not into this aggressive flirting, if it could even be called flirting. But she played into it, no doubt feeling the weight of the silver in her pocket.

 

“Why?” She said giggling. Fjord could tell it was a little strained, but Beau probably couldn’t.

 

“Because you’ve cast a spell on my heart.” Her inflection was on all the wrong words and she snapped and pointed as if she’d just told a bad pun. But she tried.

 

The barmaid took a deep breath before saying, “You’re cute,” and pinching Beau on the cheek before turning around and giving her a glass of the same stuff she’d given Fjord.

 

“Thank you, kindly.” Beau said. Fjord couldn’t help but laugh at her, admittedly pretty spot on, but blatantly obvious imitation of him. The barmaid noticed it too and had to cover her mouth to stop from laughing as well.

 

Beau grabbed the glass and practically skipped as she made her way back to Fjord. She was wearing the biggest smile he’d seen on her in a while. If he didn’t know better, he’d blame it on the alcohol.

 

“Did you see that? I told you I could do it. People fuckin’ love me.” She scoffed and took a big swig of the free drink. Or at least free from her perspective.

 

Fjord let out a low chuckle as he patted her on the back and said, “Yeah we do.” He took the glass out of her hand, intent on drinking it all, and she let him.


End file.
